Race for Space

NASA scientists on Friday presented striking early images from the picture-perfect landing of the Mars rover Perseverance, including a selfie of the six-wheeled vehicle dangling just above the surface of the Red Planet moments before touchdown.

NASA's Mars rover Perseverance, the most advanced astrobiology lab ever sent to another world, streaked through the Martian atmosphere on Thursday and landed safely inside a vast crater, the first stop on a search for traces of ancient microbial life on the Red Planet.

A fresh examination has revealed new details about the first black hole ever detected - which was spotted in 1964 and became the subject of a friendly wager between renowned scientists - including that it is bigger than previously known.

Schoolchildren in the Bosnian village of Jezero waited with great excitement for an attempt by NASA on Thursday to land on an ancient lake bed on Mars which is named after their tiny hometown.

NASA's Mars rover Perseverance, the most advanced robotic astrobiology lab ever flown to another world, neared the end of its seven-month, 293-million-mile (470-million-km) journey on Wednesday, on target for a daredevil landing attempt on the red planet.

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk's SpaceX completed an equity funding round of $850 million that sent its valuation to about $74 billion last week, CNBC reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the financing.

Moscow said on Wednesday it had denied a visa for a candidate to head the mission of U.S. space agency NASA in Russia, in what it described as retaliation for the U.S. denial of a visa to an undisclosed Russian official.

(This February 14 story corrects landing site spelling to Jezero Crater, 16th paragraph)

A miniature rover being developed to explore the Moon's surface is on track to join the search for water there, its Hungarian inventors believe - using a device that weighs less than a bag of sugar.